I am an incurable collector of quotes.  I make them into single-page posters and I have them pinned up all over my office.  The posters help me spiritually, emotionally, and professionally to stay on an intentional course of pursuing God and pursuing others and pursing personal growth.  One of my favorite quotes is this one from Teddy Roosevelt:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly—so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

The Christian faith, by even the most cursory reading of the New Testament, is an “In-the-arena” faith.  Following Jesus means leaving the sidelines and getting into the arena.  It means being a “severe striver.”  It means being infected with the cause and the vision for the greater glory of God.  It means both dependence and striving.

In my mind all of this points to two major applications.

First, living out faith in Christ involves me so deeply in the fight that I have no time for the criticism of my brother or sister.  I become so focused on the mutual goal and work of the Body of Christ that I cannot “point out where the doer of deeds could have done them better.”  I am simply so absorbed with the pursuit of God and with obedience to Him and with my contribution to the Great Commission that I have neither time nor motivation for the criticism of my fellow believers.

In my experience the major portion of criticism about others and about ministries come from people who are not in the arena and thus are not throwing themselves into the cause of Christ.  They have time to critique their fellow believers because they are seated passively on the sidelines of ministry.

I am not advocating that we never say hard things or ask hard questions of other believers.  However, I am saying that when I am a striver, when I am up to my chest in the ministry fight, my time and my motivation for criticizing my fellow workers is almost zero.

Second, living out faith in Christ involves me so deeply in the fight that I must lean fully on God for victory and I must exert myself in extraordinary ways.  (At Cypress we talk often about “depending and striving.”  I am focusing today on the striving aspect of this principle.)  The New Testament is loaded with “striving/exerting” metaphors—soldier, sojourner, servant, farmer, and athlete come immediately to mind.  The Christian faith really knows nothing of passivity and coasting and side-line spectators.  The truths about the Body of Christ and the army of Christ and the servants of Christ all demand 100% participation by the body. 

Christianity is a “sport” in which everyone is first string.  Everyone is on the field.  No one is on the bench.  There are no “backup” players.  We are not “saving anyone in case a starter gets into foul trouble.” 

So:  “In what way are you in the arena for the cause of Christ?”  What are you good at and what are you passionate about?  How have you “jumped into the arena?”  How are you striving to Celebrate God with your whole life?  How are you investing to Build Bridges here in your own zip code and in the places where there is no such thing as mail service?  How are you insuring that your life will be shaped by others as you Connect Together?

The options for involvement are very simple—just two options. 

Option A:  I can be the one “who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself or herself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly”

Or Option B:  I can be one of “those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

Please see this:  In the striving there will certainly be some error and shortcomings.  (No hurdler ever cleared 100% of her hurdles.)  Ultimately however, because of the power and intention of our Captain, there will be “the triumph of high achievement.”  Trust me; you don’t want to miss this!